Piano fall-board.



W. L. BJUR.

. PIANO FALL BOARD,

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3, 1913.

Patented Apr,1 4, 1914.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM I1. IBJUR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PIANO FALL-BOARD.

Application fi1ed January 8, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. BJUR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Piano Fall-Boards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved means for mounting the fall board of pianos or the cover or lid which is employed to protect the keys of the instrument when the same is not in use.

Usually the fall board has been hinged so that it swings forward and back in or out of action, but in some cases it has been attempted to mount the board so that the main part thereof slides back and forth on rails, attached to the side arms, said main part carrying a hinged section which falls over the ends of the keys. This latter arrangement is attended by the diflicult-y of keeping the slidingsection square between the rails or tracks so that it will slide true and easily. In other words the tendency has been to cramp or bind the sliding section and thereby prevent its easy movement. My invention seeks to overcome this disadvantage, and to this end I employ a peculiar device for holding the fall board even in its rails and insuring its easy movement, which device will now be fully set forth and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevation showing my invention in place on the piano; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan of one end of the fall board with parts broken away; and Fig. 3 is a detail section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

a indicates the side arms of the piano between which the keys 6 are arranged in the usual manner.

0 indicates the main sect-ion of the fall board which is horizontally disposed between the arms a. and arranged to slide in a horizontal plane forward and back on guide rails (Z secured to the inner faces of the side arms. 7

6 indicates the swinging section of the fall board which is hinged to the front edge of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

Serial No. 740,820.

the section 0 and designed to swing down over the ends of the keys when the section 0 is drawn forward.

The rails (Z are of metal of angular cross section, one web being fastened to the side arms a, and the other web adapted to be received in grooves formed in the ends of the section 0 of the fall board. In this manner the fall board is slidably mounted and its ends allowed to come up snugly against the side arms making a neat construction, as shown in Fig. 3. Driven into the ends of the section 0 of the fall board in such manner that their heads are sunk to the bottom of the grooves therein, are screws f, of which there are preferably two in each end of the fall board. These screws are arranged so that their heads engage and run on the rails 03. By adjusting the screws inward or outward their positions relatively to the fall board section 0 may be changed until they engage the rails (Z with the required degree of nicety. In this way lost motion may be taken up and twisting or cramping of the fall board horizontally prevented. The board will be forced to run true and even with the heads of the screws sliding on the rails with an equal pressure.

It should be noted that the screws f constitute runners to engage the rails (Z and while I prefer to employ simple screws for this purpose, my invention is not so limited, but contemplates other equivalent devices, set into the ends of the fall board to perform the same functions. It will also be noted that by setting these runners into the ends of the fall board at the bottom of the grooves therein, the runners may be easily and accurately adjusted (in the case of the screws f by an ordinary screw driver) and are yet hidden from view, making an extremely neat and inexpensive device.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A piano case having a sliding fall board with grooves in the ends thereof, rails received in the grooves in the ends of the board and adjustable runners set in the ends of the fall board at the bases of the grooves to engage the rails for the purpose specified.

2. A piano case having a sliding fall board with grooves in the ends thereof, rails name to this specification in the presence of received in the grooves in the ends of the I two subscribing Witnesses this 20th day of board and screws constituting adjustable i December, 1912. runners set in the ends of the fall board at 1 the bases of the grooves to engage the rails Witnesses: for the purpose specified. GEORGE F. USBELK,

In Witness whereof I have signed my AUGUsTUs V. KOEHLER.

WILLIAM L. BJUR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

